


Celebrity Endorsement

by caibi



Series: In and Out [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, I mean it, Modeling, never ever let them scheme together, when adrien and alya pair up things get real crazy real quick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-07 13:15:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5457746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caibi/pseuds/caibi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wherein Alya and Adrien are a dangerous tag team, Nino just wants to keep poor Marinette's head from flying off, and Ladybug  really needs to use the bathroom.</p><p>(From an anonymous request on tumblr: "Alya discovering Adrien is Chat and Nino discovering Marinette as Ladybug XD")</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Marinette? Is that...Are you really her?”

She froze on the spot, her back still facing the cloud of dust and debris from the recent fight, and the person just beyond it.

“You’re Ladybug?” the voice repeated.

Marinette turned slowly, rattled and shaken and _afraid_. She knew who was asking. In a million years, she never dreamed that the first person to stumble upon her civilian form, out of all the people in Paris, was someone she knew.

It hit too close to home. But she spoke with a measured steadiness that she didn’t think she possessed at that moment. “Yes. I’m Ladybug.”

The dust settled and he approached her, snapping himself from shock with enough urgency to offer a reassuring smile.

And that was how Nino found out.

“Pleeeaase Marinette?”

“Nino…” she shook her head at him. “I don’t know...”

“Just this once I promise!” he spun around in her desk chair to face her fully.

When he stuck his bottom lip out in a pout, she lost it. “Fine! Fine, as long as you wipe that look off your face oh my _god_.” Marinette ran a hand down her face in defeat. “I guess it’d be hypocritical to deny you. Lord knows I transform selfishly enough on my own.”

Nino beamed at her, launching himself from the chair and slapping his hands down on her shoulders. “Thank you! You’re the best, you know that? I can’t wait to see Alya’s reaction when I tell her I actually got an actual interview with the _actual_ Ladybug!”

“Well, you’re not _actually_ going to tell her that it’s _actually_ me, right?” she said, mocking his diction.

“I wouldn’t _actually_ do that, Marinette,” Nino laughed. “We both know how relentless she’d be if she found out that it was her best friend behind that mask all along.”

He paused to raise his eyebrow at her. “Anyway, you’re helping me with my big crush here, so I’ve gotta help you with yours sometime in return.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to help me with that. I’ve got it handled.”

Nino scoffed. “Mari, what you’ve got is the opposite of ‘handled.’ Accept my help - I know Adrien better than pretty much anyone, and I _know_ he’s got the biggest crush on Ladybug. Luckily, a certain someone just happens to _be_ La-”

“Nino,” she cut him off. “You know I can’t tell him.”

“Well duh, but that doesn’t make you any less Ladybug.”

Marinette cocked her head in confusion.

“Look at it this way: there’d be no Ladybug without you. And you’re Marinette. Your personality is so distinct - you’re obviously very brave, and loyal, and confident. Honestly, I’m not sure how everyone still hasn’t discovered that you’re a spandex-wearing-roof-hopper in your free time with how similar you are. But hey, that’s just my opinion.” He added that last bit after a particularly pointed glare from Marinette.

She wanted to tell him that no, there’d definitely be ‘a Ladybug’ without her; Tikki could always find another person to put on that suit and save the city. But she remembered from late night conversations with her kwami that it takes certain skill, a special kind of person, a loving heart to actually fill the role the way it’s supposed to be filled. And she knew that each Ladybug was different. She knew that the Ladybug who was an aspiring designer, the one who was a meticulous planner, the girl on whom Adrien Agreste had a massive crush, the Ladybug that was simply Marinette was different from the rest.

Marinette knew what Nino had meant by his sentiment, so she took it in stride. “Thanks, Nino.”

They’d definitely gotten closer as friends these past weeks. He’d started stopping by her place after school; first he just wanted to ask questions, but he eventually realized how much he genuinely liked her company. Marinette could say the same about Nino. It was a friendship that screamed I-have-a-crush-on-your-best-friend-so-we-could-definitely-help-each-other-out-and-you’re-also-super-chill-so-we-should-hang-more.

Symbiosis at its finest.

“So,” Marinette rubbed her hands together. “When should we start recording that interview?”

 

Somewhere between all the after school hang outs Nino had found himself in the middle of an akuma battle.

He was standing at a street corner with Alya as miscellaneous debris soared over his head. He could make out the flash of red from Ladybug’s suit as she zipped past on her yo-yo. It’d be a great opportunity for filming, he thought, if he wasn’t so preoccupied with shielding himself from flying rubble. Alya seemed to have no such concern; she had her phone out and was faithfully filming the whole thing.

He’d pull them out of there if he could, but he thought Alya might murder him.

A Lucky Charm, Cataclysm, and Miraculous Cleansing Light soon followed and the fight was over. Nino looked over to Alya, about to prompt her to leave. But she was gone.

There’s only one place she would have gone.

Where had Ladybug gone off to again?

He went in the direction that he thought he had seen her leave,and thank god he was right. Nino knew that Alya would follow her hero anywhere - he saw red above and a tangle of curls tailing from the ground. He could tell that Ladybug didn’t know that she was being followed: she made no moves to conceal either herself or the route toward her destination, _her home_.

So he shouted.

“Hey Alya! Alya there you are!”

Nino saw Ladybug falter and look back.

As Alya turned to briefly yell her dissent at Nino, Ladybug took the opportunity to duck behind a building.

Alya faced front once more and let out a frustrated cry. “I lost her! Nino! Did you see where she went?” She asked frantically.

“Uh, she went that way!” he pointed in the direction directly opposite of where Ladybug was hiding. “I saw her go over there!”

“Thanks, Nino, you’re a lifesaver!” Alya called back as she ran.

 

“You know, you need a manager or something.”

“And what, Nino, you wanna be my manager?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said, as if it was something glaringly obvious.

Marinette smacked her hand to her head for what felt like the thousandth time, and conceded almost immediately. There was really no point in arguing with him anymore if she was just going to give in anyway. “Whatever. But you can’t, like, tell people that you’re my manager because that’d raise some eyebrows.”

“Great! So this is your first photo shoot, right?”

“Well, yeah,” she pondered. “I mean I’ve been in the news before and lots of people take my picture all the time but this is my first professional thing so...yeah.”

“Nice! And it’s for Gabriel Agreste’s new line, inspired by Ladybug and Chat Noir, which is perfect because you know Adrien’s gonna be there.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve been told,” Marinette squeezed her eyes shut. “Stop bringing it up or you know I’m gonna get really worked up and not be able to function at all.”

“...you’re right. Sorry.”

“Just,” she started. “I kinda wish Chat would be there. I know he said modeling’s not his thing, but him being there would really soothe my nerves, y’know?”

“Yeah I feel ya Mari. Which I also don’t really understand, by the way. You say he’s a cocky guy, right? A bit on the overly confident side, very flirty, always down for PR?”

“Well, kind of, I guess…” Marinette said hesitantly. She was definitely allowed to talk smack about Chat, but hearing it come from someone else was just odd. She got this weird urge to defend her partner, but she couldn’t really bash Nino for it because he’s just repeating what she said, after all.

“Then why is he turning down the shoot?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Personal reasons, other obligations. He was probably just saying that to sound suave even in dissent.”

“Hm. Whatever the case, I’ll be there for you. Can’t let Adrien frighten Ladybug, of all people,” Nino laughed.

Marinette pushed him off the desk chair.

 

Alya was there.

Ladybug and Nino had decided to walk into the building separately so as to not raise any suspicions on set. Nino had arrived first and was standing at Adrien’s side when the heroine walked in. He immediately caught her eye and sent a frantic glance Alya’s way.

The effect was immediate. Ladybug’s eyes became several sizes wider and her hands twitched at her side. Knowing that she absolutely could not mess up this shoot with her nerves, she made straight for the refreshments table for some water.

As she gulped down the bottle, she tried to ease her mind. Alya was her best friend, and she obviously meant no harm. And she was, quite possibly, Ladybug’s biggest fan, so there’s no real reason that she wouldn’t be there.

Except.

Except there’s no way she could have known about the shoot. It was kept on the down low, and the only ones who knew about it were Ladybug herself (and, by extension, Nino), the crew, and Adrien.

 _Adrien_. Had he told her? He knew that Alya loved everything that had to do with Ladybug, so maybe he’d asked her to come.

But why wouldn’t she have told Marinette about it? Her best friend? Especially if Adrien was involved. Alya was the ultimate wingman when it came to Adrien, so it also didn’t really make sense for her to not have told Marinette about a shoot in which both Ladybug and Adrien would be starring.

Not to say that Marinette was too heartbroken over being uninformed about something that had to do with Adrien. Alya was really under no obligation to tell her anything of the sort.

It was just...unlike her. Alya never missed a chance to blabber on about Ladybug, and she always kept Marinette in the loop about Adrien. So for her to have kept this from Marinette was concerning to say the least.

Marinette’s mind immediately jumped to conclusions: Alya was actually dating Adrien but didn’t want Marinette to know and become upset. Alya found out Ladybug’s identity and decided to reveal it to Adrien while they were shooting so that he’d ask her out. Alya and Adrien had…

She really needed to stop thinking about it.

Before she knew it, Marinette had finished off the water bottle.

 

Chat Noir had been running on the ground when he was tackled.

His transformation was coming to an end and he really could not deal with this right now.

He rolled himself over to see his assailant. Alya. He knew she was a big Ladybug fan, but he had been unsure if this admiration extended to Chat Noir until then.

“W-what are you doing? I’ve gotta -” he was interrupted by the last few beeps of his ring.

“Wait, no, I’d like to ask you a few questions!”

“Could this maybe wait for another time? I’d be happy to -”

“Aw c’mon! I was just running after Ladybug, see, and my friend distracted me and I lost her but then he told me to come this way and I found you so pleeeeaaase? I went to all this trouble and -”

“I really can’t,” Chat said, his voice wavering dangerously. His transformation was definitely ending and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He tried to make a break for it; he was stuck in an alley with Alya practically on top of him. If he could just hop onto that dumpster there, he could reach the roof, and then -

But she caught his wrist.

And his transformation fell.

“Adrien?”

 

Their friendship was newly rebuilt upon a mutual adoration for Ladybug.

More than anything, it was business.

Alya, in particular, wanted to unmask the heroine. Her investigative nature and obsession over Ladybug proved to be vicious; she’d agree not to publish Chat Noir’s true identity if he would help her find Ladybug’s true identity.

Adrien had agreed, outwardly on the grounds that he’d wanted to keep his identity well-hidden. But in all honesty, he had doubted Alya’s sincerity. He didn’t think she’d actually tell the world his secret identity once she found out that it was him, of all people. They’d been friends, and he was unsure if she’d actually go so far as to expose him to the world in spite of her enthusiastic front.

So he took up the guise of fear and self-preservation to hide a motive which lined up remarkably well with Alya’s own. He wanted to know who Ladybug was. Holding him back was his partner-in-crime-fighting herself. She’d wanted to keep their identities a secret. And he respected that.

Or, at least, he thought he had.

Adrien was caught in the middle of an internal battle in which his selfish and selfless sides recklessly butted heads. He found himself sitting on a fence: behind him sat a safety net, something he could easily fall back on and have everything remain the same.

But in front of him.

Oh, in front of him lied something dangerous, something exciting. Twists and turns and new adventures, tumultuous and troublesome and terrifying.

When Chat Noir finds himself on a fence, he’d sooner launch himself headfirst into danger than play it safe.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is it just me or did i go absolutely wild with the italics? never let me make artistic decisions ever again  
> this has been in my drafts for a ridiculously long time, and i realized that i actually needed to finish this so....i'm posting this first chapter while i tidy up the rest. most of it is written i'm just...busy? lazy? both? (both. yeah)  
> anyway!! shippy chapter is coming up soon - this one was mainly exposition/buildup i guess


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug, would you please stop drinking water?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a long time to finish. I owe an apology to everyone who has been waiting for the update. If you want to know why it took so long, I'll probably mention it on tumblr. Anyway, I really hope you all enjoy this chapter (it's the last one!!) This chap took 3 drafts and about a month to complete, and it's still not perfect but oh well! Thank you guys so much for waiting

Nino found her guzzling her fourth bottle of water of the day.

“I don’t think I can do this,” Ladybug frowned at him from behind the rim.

“Sure you can, Mari,” Nino responded quietly. He plucked a muffin from a plate and turned it in his hands, examining. After a full 360 degree inspection, he declared “Banana nut,” and took a large bite.

Ladybug shook her head slowly, but continued to make distressed, guttural noises.

Nino shot her a look.

“I’m no genius, but I don’t think feral sounds are good for your image,” he scolded between bites of muffin.

“Look here, Monsieur Banana Nut, I don’t think you’re in any position to tell me what’s good for my image and what’s not,” she gestured to the crumbs littering his shirt and stuck to his face.

“I’m your manager, remember?” Nino brushed off the fallen muffin bits. “I do know what’s good for you, at any rate. And I’m here to tell you to get your butt back on that set. You left Adrien mid-pose, and the rest of the crew is there wondering why the all-mighty, super-brave Lady Luck ditched to drown herself in bottled water and sorrow.”

“It’s not sorrow!” she exclaimed. Realizing that maybe she’d been a bit too loud (she’s not really supposed to be friendly with Nino, after all. She’s not supposed to even appear to _know_ him), she buried her nose behind her plastic bottle. “It’s more like...embarrassment? Nervousness? Uh…”

“It’s Adrien, dummy. You always stumble when you’re around him.”

It was true, Marinette admitted to herself. As soon as they’d met on set, she couldn’t stop flailing. Moving her arms about or mumbling or anything otherwise unnatural. Granted, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. In her civilian life, she’d been able to actually talk with Adrien more frequently. And though she did tend to stumble, she had gotten a bit more practice in recently.

As Ladybug, she had an extra confidence boost. All she had to do was assume the brave, authoritative air that her superhero persona regularly required. She simply had to make the photoshoot seem like a normal, everyday entailment to her job.

It was difficult when Marinette’s bumbling awkwardness threatened to seep through.

“Yeah, well, _Marinette_ does that. But, jeez, Nino. _Ladybug_ isn’t supposed to! She’s... _I’m_ supposed to be cool and confident and daring and composed and...everything Marinette lacks. This is such a disaster,” she ducks her head mournfully.

“Ah, man, Mari would you _please_ shut up. Listen to the nonsense you’re spewing,” Nino waved his muffin in the air dramatically. “You’re Ladybug _and_ Marinette, and if you can’t consolidate them in your mind you’ve got a real problem.”

Ladybug cocked her head inquisitively.

“Okay, put it this way: I think you’ve gotten into the habit of separating your identities. Like, making them totally different people, when they’re really not. Which isn’t to say that it’s a necessarily bad thing, I mean you’ve gotta have some way of protecting your civilian identity, you know? So you don’t let slip that you wear spandex and beat up magic moths on weeknights.”

Ladybug let a laugh bubble out.

“So like, you’ve gotten used to categorizing your...selves, yeah? And I think you’ve done that for so long that you look at them as two entirely different people. But I want you to know that you _can_ be brave and awkward and decisive and whatever else all at the same time.”

“Oh, Nino…” she said quietly. Ladybug was unsure how to respond, receiving the sentiment and feeling it meet the source of her troubles head on.

At first she couldn’t really believe it. She knew it was important to keep her identities separate, but going so far as to completely differentiate them? She couldn’t really believe it. She knew she was Marinette and Ladybug, right? Even if Marinette was clumsier and had less restraint, or if she was more forgetful. Even if Ladybug was more dutiful and had more of an independent streak, or if she was assuredly liked by everyone. Even if…

It was a difficult truth to swallow, but even she couldn’t deny it. She’d undoubtedly alienated her identities from one another in her head. She knew who she was, but that depended on the moment, didn’t it?

“Look, Mari. I just want you to be happy with yourself, okay? You can continue doing what you’re doing, but I don’t really think that’s healthy. But I mean, whatever, it’s your decision. So. Even if you’re around Adrien, and you’re feeling nervous, know that you’ve got Ladybug’s - your own - confidence to back you up.”

Ladybug wasn’t sure if she could employ that kind of confidence offhandedly, but she could try to tap into it. She gave Nino a sound nod and returned to set.

 

“So, how exactly are we going to ‘catch’ Ladybug?”

“Easy, my feline friend. We corner her.”

“We...corner her….” Adrien repeated.

Alya nodded back at him confidently.

After a silent few moments in which Adrien looked back at her in disbelief, her proud stature wilted.

“I...what? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I thought you had a plan, Alya! I thought you’d come here knowing exactly what you wanted to do, but it’s just, ‘we corner her?!’ How does that make sense?!”

“Hey hey woah woah woah wait, don’t go accusing me of screwing up! You could just as easily have made a plan on your own.”

“But you said you’d have it covered!” he exclaimed.

“Well I -” Alya didn’t quite know what to say to that. “Ah, don’t give me that crap! Yeah, I know I said that, but that’s because I always say stuff like that. Really though, it’s just Marinette who makes the plans most of the time….”

Alya faltered.

“Mari always pulls through with the long-term problem solving and planning. And I mean yeah, I do my share when it comes to stuff like this, but she’s always got the most brilliant ideas. Man...I wish she could’ve come today.”

“Well, why didn’t you invite her?” Adrien asked.

“You know why,” she responded. “I can’t really keep secrets from her; not _well_ , anyway. So if she came, I’d end up spilling the beans about why I’m actually here - to catch Ladybug - and then I’d probably mess up and let slip that you’re Chat Noir.”

They both fell silent. Alya didn’t have anything else to say. Adrien didn’t know how to respond. The atmosphere was thick and awkward for a while until finally:

“Hey, I think your idea will work out just fine,” Adrien said. “It’s not like we can predict Ladybug’s movements, or trap her without being malicious, so cornering her may just work out for her.”

Alya brightened up a bit at that. “Okay, yeah! That’s the spirit. We’ll...We’ll find out who she is in no time!”

He gave her a big thumbs up.

“For now, let’s just head back to set and wait for Ladybug to come back.”

 

The rest of the shoot went fairly well.

Ladybug was stiff in her poses and a bit shy here and there, but for most of the afternoon she seemed professional as ever.Ladybug was in the news often enough for her to garner a penchant for winning smiles.

Adrien helped a lot with making her feel comfortable; cracking jokes and making bad puns (even from a distance Nino could tell they were horrible) hardly failed to make the heroine laugh. She couldn’t help but be reminded of her partner-in-crime-fighting.

There were a lot of costume changes. The _Miraculous_ collection, aptly named and designed by Gabriel Agreste, included a vermillion knitted sweater and a cat-ear hat, a tail coat with an emerald waistcoat based on Chat Noir (Adrien chuckled to himself at the pun - a _tail_ coat based on a _cat_ ), and other variations of the superheroes’ gimmicks with a tasteful twist.

Ladybug couldn’t help but gawk. The aspiring designer could barely believe that she was in the middle of a fashion shoot, let alone a shoot for a line based on _her_. She was so proud of the work that she and Chat Noir have accomplished, and to be recognized with something as dear to her heart as Gabriel Agreste’s work? She was in heaven.

 

It was one outfit change from the end of the photoshoot that Ladybug started to...notice.

She really had to pee.

She’d planned to go while Adrien was switching clothes, but the director had pulled her aside before she could make a break for the bathroom.

“Would you mind doing a few extra shots for me? I love the work you’re doing with Adrien, but we’d love to have some pages in the magazine with just you.”

Too nice (and admittedly too excited) to decline, she told the director that she’d be more than happy to.

So she posed for another 10 minute worth of pictures, mainly with her posing in ‘candid’ action shots. She’d also been asked to wear a scarf, hat, and various other accessories. Due to Tikki’s magic, she couldn’t really take off the suit and wear actual clothing (she’d told the director that she’d only be comfortable wearing her jumpsuit) so they did the next best.

When Adrien came back, they’d picked up where they’d left off. The shoot ended with a handful of cute poses and Ladybug gave her thanks to the crew. Everyone responded heartily, and Ladybug waited for a respectful moment before rushing to the bathroom because _holy crap did she have to pee._

 

“Where’d she go?!” Alya ran to Adrien anxiously.

“I’m not really sure? She just ran off?”

Alya looked like she was shooting laser beams at him through her eyes.

He waved his hands wildly in front of him in defense. “She-she does that sometimes! I can’t help it, we just-”

Alya shook her head dismissively. “Okay no listen to me, we don’t have much time. We aren’t sure if she’s still in the building but she can’t have gone far, so we’re gonna split up and search for her. Alright. Go!”

And before Adrien could even respond, she took off in the opposite direction.

“Well, okay then,” he said to no one in particular, making his way to the end of the hall.

 

“Tikki Tikki whereisthebathroom oh mygodohmy _ god _ -”

_ Calm down Marinette! _ The kwami’s voice spoke in her head. 

Ladybug sucked air in through her teeth. “Sorry! Sorry, I just-  _ really need to go _ -”

She faltered as she rounded a corner, nearly falling over in the process. “You’d think they’d put signs up in a building this bug, you know?”

_ I know. Just please, Marinette, concentrate on where you’re g- _

Tikki was cut off as her charge nearly slammed into a door that was opening outward.

“Sorry!” Ladybug tossed over her shoulder, still running, to the person she’d nearly just plowed into. “Yikes! That was close.”

_ You’re telling me _ , Tikki said, mostly to herself.

“Oh! There it is!” Ladybug said, sprinting for the restroom door.

 

People don’t really give Chat Noir the credit he deserves. 

Sure, most think he’s just a sidekick or sometimes even a hindrance. Adrien doesn’t really mind. As long as he can be of help to his Lady, he’ll deal with whatever anyone else has to say about him.

He and Ladybug are a team.

And one of his redeeming qualities, as such, is his perceptiveness - which, again, aren’t given enough credit by the ones who don’t really know what they’re talking about.

Call it animal instinct if you’d like, but Adrien’s intuition rarely fails. And this time it’s telling him to check the bathroom (well, it’d probably be his intuition combined with the memory of Ladybug chugging water about 20 minutes ago).

Having been raised a model, Adrien knows the ins-and-outs of the building. It’s the studio where most of his indoor photoshoots have been held, and he’d spent a lot of time there. Finding the bathroom was no problem, so he broke into a sprint.

In 3 minutes he was at the door panting wildly.

Once he’d calmed down, he could make out voices inside.

“Tikki, I have to go! How does this suit come off?!”

After a moment, Ladybug’s voice spoke up again.

“Yeah yeah yeah you don’t have to explain it again I just forgot - I’m under a lot of stress!”

Another pause, and the sound of feet slamming against the ground. Ladybug must have been hopping around inside a stall (full bladders tended to make a person do that, Adrien notes).

Tikki, he assumed, must be Ladybug’s kwami. And Tikki must have been speaking to his Lady in her head, quite like Plagg tends to do. Sometimes. Mostly just to tell him to quit being so dense.

Adrien could also tell that Ladybug had had a temporary lapse in memory; she’d forgotten that she can’t simply remove her jumpsuit. It doesn’t have a zipper or anything (he’d looked on his own uniform and couldn’t find anything) and it’s pretty much vacuum sealed to her body. 

So, she was still wearing her suit. He couldn’t enter the bathroom yet - she wouldn’t transform if she heard someone come in. He’d have to wait until she untransformed and then enter. And then he’d stake out inside a stall until she had to leave.

She wouldn’t transform back into Ladybug in the bathroom when someone else was in there. It’s too...flashy. So she’d leave as her civilian self. And that’s when Adrien would pounce.

“Okay Tikki! Just...let’s...detransform!”

Adrien could see the flash of light under the door.

“Alright! You’re free to go,” came a small voice.

“Ah, thank  _ god _ !”

After a moment, Adrien entered. There was only one occupied stall - Ladybug’s. He could see her feet, but nothing else. As soon as the door swung shut behind him, he saw a flash of red disappearing into Ladybug’s stall: most likely Tikki, Adrien thought.

As he entered the stall at the end, everything was quiet. 

He continued to stare at Ladybug’s feet in the adjacent stall. The shoes were pink, and they were actually pretty...small. He hadn’t really paid attention to his Lady’s feet before. Well. It’s not like he really had the chance.

Her feet started to shuffle as if she was nervous.

Adrien could hear whispering. 

“-should I do?”

She sounded so anxious.

“I’m not -”

Is this really what he should be doing?

“But I -”

Adrien couldn’t stop imagining the horrible situation he’d be putting her through.

“- think is right.”

The nervousness.

“Okay…”

He’d be betraying his Lady’s trust.

At that thought, Adrien stilled.

And suddenly, Ladybug’s stall door opened.

And Adrien hadn’t moved.

And he could hear her feet scuffling to the sinks.

And he could hear the water running. Paper towels being ripped. The door being opened.

And Adrien still hadn’t moved.

 

“You’re too nice for your own good.”

“I know Plagg.”

“She was right there!”

“Yes Plagg.”

“You could have finally found out her identity! You could finally have stopped complaining about it!”

Adrien shot Plagg a look. “Okay, Plagg, I get it! It’s just…” he trailed off.

“It’s just,” he started again after a pause. “I didn’t want it to be like that. I want her to trust me like I trust her. I can’t break that.”

Plagg sighed, returning to Adrien’s pocket. “Whatever you say, kiddo. But if you wake me up in the middle of the night to say how much you regret that decision, you owe me an entire wheel of camembert.”

Adrien smiled down at his kwami. “Okay.”

He walked through the hall in silence until, rounding a corner, he bumped into someone.

“Oh sorry!” he started, reeling back. And then his face fell. “My L- er, um, Ladybug!”

There stood his partner, back in uniform, feet firmly planted and arms crossed. She looked skeptical.

“Uh, hi. Good shoot today!” Adrien said sheepishly.

Ladybug shifted her weight from one foot onto the other. “A little bug told me that you were in the ladies’ bathroom just now.”

_ Oh, crap. _

Tikki must have seen him walk in.

“Uh, yeah, I was just - I must have walked into the wrong one?” he said unconvincingly.

Ladybug raised her eyebrow. She had made a near complete 180 from before, when she was shy and shaking and awkward. She was more like the Ladybug he knew on the rooftops, chasing akuma victims. Sturdy and self-assured.

“Okay you got me. I just wanted to speak to you, but clearly that wasn’t the place.”

“Are you sure you weren’t just trying to find out my identity?”

“N-no! Of course not!” Adrien wilted slightly under her intensified glare. “I mean, no? Not really?”

“Adrien.”

Hearing her say his name, Adrien, not Chat Noir, he broke.

“Okay. Yes. I was. I’m sorry.”

“Find out anything interesting, then?”

“No, I swear! I didn’t look.”

Ladybug’s posture relaxed. “Why not?”

“I didn’t think it was fair. You shouldn’t have your privacy violated like that, and it was wrong of me to try to pry. I should have realized it sooner. I’m sorry.”

Ladybug’s expression softened, and she put her hand on Adrien’s shoulder. “It’s fine. And I’m glad you seem to care. Some people are so obsessed with discovering mine and Chat Noir’s identities that they seem to forget why it’s so important for us to hide them in the first place. That we’re people too.”

For Adrien, that hit pretty close to home.

“That girl you came with, Alya? She’s a great person, and runs a wonderful blog, but maybe you could remind her that we need our space too?” Ladybug giggled.

He laughed along, imagining Alya’s face when he’d tell her. “Sure thing.”

“Thanks,” she said, looking him directly in the eyes.

He couldn’t stop staring into those beautiful blues.

“Hey, Ladybug?”   
“Hm?”

“Do you think we’ll meet up again? In the near future?”

“I don’t know. You tell me.”

He just stared.

“Would you like to?” she asked him.

“Yes,” he said quietly.

Then, as if spurred by the confidence burst that had compelled her just a little bit earlier, she leaned in.

Their lips met, and Adrien froze.

What. What was going on. She was...kissing him? What. What. What…?

She  _ was _ kissing him. It took him a moment to process all of it, but when he had, he relaxed.

This is what he had waited so, so long for.

So he pressed in, and held her tight.

She moved her hands into his hair, firmly clutching a fistful.

His Lady, the one he’d stuck by for so long, cared about for so long, loved for so long, was there.

And on the other side of the mask, Marinette could not believe her luck.

 

And if Adrien forgot to respond to approximately 20 texts from Alya later that day, well…

He couldn’t be blamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy crap this thing was long
> 
> I realize that all the emotional revelations and conversations therein would not likely happen between teenagers like it does here  
> (usually teenagers' conversations go something like:  
> 'man i'd bang darth vader'  
> 'i'd bang anakin but str8 up vader might b too much'  
> and in case you were wondering, yes this is a conversation I actually had the other day. Pls don't try to guess which person I was in this convo)
> 
> also fun fact: i actually really had to pee when i was writing the part when mari was rushing to the bathroom
> 
> anyway! if you ever need to talk about anything - school, friends, life - or wanna discuss ladybug, please message me! i'll talk about anything and i'm usually online (on tumblr @ caibii)


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